Seoul shares open lower on weak corporate earnings

SEOUL, Jan. 26 (Yonhap) -- South Korean shares opened lower on Tuesday as major companies had poor fourth-quarter earnings, dampening investor sentiment.

The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) shed 12.58 points, or 0.66 percent, to 1,880.85 in the first 15 minutes of trading.

Market bellwether Samsung Electronics declined 0.86 percent, and top automaker Hyundai Motor slipped 1.45 percent ahead of its quarterly report in the afternoon.

SK hynix, the world's second-largest chipmaker, rose 1.61 percent although its fourth-quarter profit fell 46.3 percent in the fourth quarter from a year earlier.

The local currency was trading at 1,200.4 won against the U.S. dollar as of 9:15 a.m., down 6.2 won from Monday's close.

ejkim@yna.co.kr
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